Sunday, September 15, 2013

Seaweed and Sunsets

I am a big believer in the benefits of outdoors life. I tend to think that anyone with a sit-down job (a writer, for example) is in danger of physical, mental and spiritual withering if they don't get out regularly into the fresh air. Not that the air of our polluted and overpopulated world is especially fresh anymore. Still, you have to make the most of what's available.

So yesterday was another climbing day for me. I discovered a tiny cove inaccessible save by some tricky scrambling and standing there I felt like an explorer in a minor key. How many people have ever visited this little place, I wondered? It can't be many, but surely someone else has in the entire history of the human race.

When I was young I was asked by various adults what I wanted to be when I grew up. "An explorer," I answered. I was told that it was an impossible career choice because there was nowhere left to discover. But that's not quite true. There must be some places where no human foot has ever trodden. And maybe these places are closer to home than we imagine...

The previous week I went to Pembrokeshire to walk a section of the coastal path. I started near Milford Haven and ended up in Broad Haven, a distance of 26 miles, and after ten hours of trudging up and down, up and down, I was rewarded with one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. Hardly virgin territory but magnificent! One day I really must embark on walking the entire coastal path. People often say this but never actually do it; and I am no different.